


strawberry

by unwieldyink



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-10
Updated: 2020-08-10
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:34:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25815868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unwieldyink/pseuds/unwieldyink
Summary: "It was ridiculous, really. Clarisse could fight the most gruesome of monsters and endure the most terrifying of battles without breaking a sweat, and yet having a picnic with her friend-- well, girlfriend, now-- was what made her hands shake?"for pjofemslashweek on tumblr! day 1- firsts
Relationships: Silena Beauregard/Clarisse La Rue
Comments: 4
Kudos: 29





	strawberry

**Author's Note:**

> we'll call this canon divergence because i completely ignored the timeline :)

The first time Clarisse and Silena talked to each other, Clarisse made a fool of herself.

Silena had been at camp for about a week, during which Clarisse had no desire to approach her. She didn’t need to talk to Silena to know that she was just like all the other children of Aphrodite; more interested in her nails than her sword. It was a popular pastime in the Ares cabin to mock the Aphrodite kids; despite their parents’ romance, children of Ares and Aphrodite just didn’t get along.

So when Clarisse saw Silena milling around in the strawberry fields a little ways away from where she’d been sitting for the past hour, she rolled her eyes and thought nothing of it. If Silena was smart, she would leave Clarisse alone. If she wasn’t… well, Clarisse’s electric spear was strapped to her side.

Clarisse’s palms pressed into the dirt of the fields as she squinted up at the clouds. It had only been a month since she returned from her quest to recover the Golden Fleece and save camp. When she got back, she’d thrown herself right back into training again, so she didn’t have much time to think over everything that had happened. But now…

It was just so confusing. She’d never been anything but loyal to Ares. And she’d hated Percy ever since he’d arrived at camp, even before he made an enemy out of Ares. But on that quest… Ares had been the one giving her a hard time about succeeding, not Percy. And then Percy actually helped her, even let her take the credit for the quest, just because he was an annoyingly nice little twerp. It was like who was her ally and who was her enemy had just flipped for a minute. And now, whenever her siblings tried to gloat about Clarisse’s quest and mock Percy for it, she felt the strangest urge to defend him. It was just confusing.

Clarisse brought another strawberry to her lips as she thought about the way her father had spoken to her.  _ I don’t want any excuses, little girl! _

Clarisse balanced her half eaten strawberry between her thumb and forefinger.

_ You will succeed. And if you don’t… _

She spun the strawberry in a full 360 degree rotation, observing every seed on it.

_ You’re pathetic. _

Clarisse crushed the strawberry between her fingers, letting the juice drip down her hand and run off of her arm.

“Well, that’s not very nice,” said a voice behind Clarisse. “What did that strawberry ever do to you?”

Clarisse jumped at the noise, whirling around while grabbing for her spear. But when she saw it was just Silena, she rolled her eyes. “Go bother someone else, princess.”

“It was just a question,” Silena said, sitting down next to Clarisse.

Clarisse glared at her. “What part of  _ go away _ don’t you understand?”

Silena met Clarisse’s eyes, a spark of defiance shining in them as she ignored Clarisse’s complaints. “I’m Silena. I’m new here.”

“I know,” Clarisse said. “I was there when you were claimed. Everyone was.”

Silena ran her thumb underneath the bottom of her hijab, fiddling with the fabric. “My siblings told me you were the best fighter in camp.”

Clarisse held her chin up a little higher. “Wow. Aphrodite kids getting something right for once? That’s a first.”

Silena frowned. “They also told me I shouldn’t bother trying to train with an Ares camper, because you’re all a bunch of jerks. I was hoping you’d prove them wrong, but…” She moved to stand up.

“Wait.” Clarisse leaned forward, stopping Silena. “You want to-- to train? With me?”

“I did,” Silena said, easing back down onto the grass. “But I’ve only been here for a week, and I’ve already heard at least twenty comments making fun of my cabin and my mom-- most of which came from your siblings. If you’re like that, then I’ll find someone else.”

Clarisse should have been angry. Who did this girl think she was, walking up to the counsellor of the Ares cabin and trying to chew her out after only a week? But, honestly, she was just impressed with Silena’s moxie.

“If you want to learn to fight, then I’ll teach you,” Clarisse said. “I didn’t realize any Aphrodite kids cared about that sort of thing.”

“Then you obviously don’t know any Aphrodite kids. I know everyone thinks we’re delicate little flowers, but honestly, my siblings are the toughest people I’ve met here so far.”

Clarisse snorted. “Whatever you say, princess.” She pulled out her electric spear. “So when do you want to start? Now?”

A smile flicked at the corner of Silena’s mouth. “Hmmm. Maybe not.”

“Why not? You have to be ready if you want to learn.”

“ _ I’m  _ ready,” Silena said. “But you might want to go change your shirt first.”

Clarisse looked down to see that her shirt was covered in pink stains from the strawberry she’d crushed earlier. “Oh.” Her ears grew hot. She usually didn’t care about her appearance, but for some reason, she wanted Silena to think highly of her. “Uh. Yeah. I should.”

Silena laughed, standing up and smoothing out her skirt. “Tomorrow, then?”

“Yeah.” Clarisse stood, too. “Meet me in the arena after lunch. Don’t be late.”

Silena gave her a little two-fingered salute before turning and walking towards the cabins. “Wouldn’t dream of it, Strawberry!”

It took Clarisse a full second to process what she’d said. “Wait,  _ Strawberry? _ ”

.

.

.

Clarisse sat on a gingham picnic blanket in the middle of the strawberry fields, eyes trained on the cabins and spinning a strawberry between her fingertips.

The same way she had the first time Silena had talked to her.

Clarisse let out a breath, surveying the picnic blanket and making sure everything was in order. The blanket, the basket, the food. Everything had to be perfect.

Honestly, she didn’t know why she was so nervous. Silena and Clarisse had been spending time together for years now. But for some reason, calling it a  _ date _ made it feel so different.

_ Date _ . The word rattled around in Clarisse’s brain, kicking up her heart rate once again.

It was ridiculous, really. Clarisse could fight the most gruesome of monsters and endure the most terrifying of battles without breaking a sweat, and yet having a picnic with her friend-- well, girlfriend, now-- was what made her hands shake?

Clarisse glanced back up at the cabins to spot Selina making her way towards the picnic, a giant smile spread across her face.

The minute she saw Silena, Clarisse stopped breathing. Silena had dressed up for their date, wearing a baby blue dress with a matching hijab. Her dark eyes shone, and her smile-- her smile! Clarisse thought she might melt into the picnic blanket.

“Hey, Strawberry,” Silena said, sitting down opposite Clarisse. “This is so cute! You really shouldn’t have.”

“Well,” Clarisse said. “The first date’s supposed to be special, right?” She started unpacking the basket, trying to think of what to say next. She’d always been so at ease with Silena. Why was it that as soon as they started dating, suddenly Clarisse was too nervous to speak? It wasn’t like anything was different.

Except…

“You look really nice,” Clarisse said.

“Thank you. So do you.” Silena hid a smile behind a sip of lemonade.

“I was just thinking…” Clarisse leaned forward. “About the first time we talked to each other.”

“You got strawberry juice all over your shirt, and you didn’t even notice,” Selina remembered.

“Yeah. I don’t even know how I managed that.” Clarisse rubbed the back of her neck, but smiled. “That was only a couple years ago, but it feels like a millennia has passed since then.”

Silena nodded. “Different world.”

“Yeah.” And it was. So much had changed in camp at large with the Titan and Giant wars. But Clarisse knew that wasn’t what Silena meant. So much had changed about the two of them. They weren’t the same girls they’d been when they met. And Clarisse’s feelings about Silena were possibly the things that had changed the most.

Clarisse reached out and intertwined her fingers with Silena’s. “Different world.”


End file.
